Y's Iii

• Y's Iii Game
• Y's Viii For Vita Reviews

Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (pronounced like 'Ees') is an action RPG and, as you probably guessed, the third in the series. After playing Lagoon and later hearing that it was a Ys clone, I was worried about starting it. Part II of our Jorito/Ys dynamic duo is an entirely different ballgame, contrasting the preceding synthwave fabulosity with a more reflective, piano-led orchestral take on the title theme; Jorito (Jorrith Schaap) writes: 'Another remix I reanimated for the Ys 30th anniversary album.Originally, I did this with fellow MSX composer Meits for a competition on msx.org, but because we were so late.

• 2Special Passwords (US)

Special Passwords (Japan)

• こくぶまさあきせんせい - Enables in-game menu debugging functions.
• よしのずい - Enables option menu on save game load screen (and also 85 additional save game slots).
• くまもとじよう - Enables in-game pause functionality activated by holding down the Run button.
  

Below is a video showcasing the effects of the こくぶまさあきせんせい and よしのずい passwords in several areas of the game.

Special Passwords (US)

At the title screen, select 'Continue', then select 'Input the password' and select any save game slot.

Enter a special password, and then hit 'end'. A special complex sound effect will play, along with a warning message about it being a wrong password; select the 'No' option.

• AALLFFAA - Enables in-game menu debugging functions.
• FFAALLCCOOMM - Enables 'Option' menu on save game load screen (and also apparently additional save game slots).
• HHUUDDSSOONN - Enables in-game pause functionality activated by holding down the Run button.

Menu Debug Functions

Bring up the menu in-game by pressing Select, then press Select again after selecting one of the following entries.

• EQUIPMENT - Toggle invincibility.
• LOAD - Infinite use of items.
• SAVE - Increase Experience.
• STATUS - Increase Gold.
• MESSAGE - Decrease Ring power.

Option Menu

At the save game load screen, press Right, and 'Start game story' will be replaced with 'Option'.

Note: the 'BGM' and 'SOUND' menus contain multiple pages of content, scrollable by pressing Left and Right.

• BGM - Play background music.
• SOUND - Play sound effect.
• ITEM - Examine possible equipment and items (however, their names are missing from the US version).

Y's Iii Game

Posted 2020-12-10, evaluated by the judges panel

Today we've got a DOUBLE DOSE of Jorito (Jorrith Schaap) & Ys III, from the MelodYs and HarmonYs album, starting with this boppin' synthwave jam that features HeavenWraith on electric guitar and includes some (iconic!) vocoded cheese topping:

'Originally, I tried making an Italo remix of the town of Redmont music, but when I showed it to Sir_NutS many moons ago, he pointed out, 'It's a cool arrangement, but the sounds are not Italo.' Fast-forward 2 years, I tried my hand at synthwave instead of Italo, did a lot of work on production, changed and layered lots of instruments, completely overhauled the mixing, and finally came up with a title. Probably took me longer than coming up with the arrangement in the first place. :)

In a bout of inspiration, I tried swapping the synth part that originally played the 'Boy's Got Wings' part with a sampled guitar, and that sounded rather good. So, I asked around if there were any people on the Ys album project that would be able to record the guitar for me. OCR regular HeavenWraith was able to do just that, and on rather short notice. That part where 'Boy's Got Wings' plays is my favorite part of the song, both because of the cool melody of the source track that I was able to blend with the Redmont theme and the awesome guitar work. :)

As for the 'lyrics,' they are mostly there as ornaments and notably silly and incomprehensible.

Glad that I had a good excuse to dust off this arrangement and finish it properly!'

Judges were unanimous, although there was a consistent concern about the relative levels of some components. Sir_NutS says it well:

'Ah yeah I've listened to this quite a few times during its production. This went through quite a few versions, Jorito is very dedicated to getting the mix just right and issue-free. Needless to say I think production is fine, though I did warn about the cluttering of instruments in some sections, but that goes with Jorito's style and it doesn't get too bad to become chaotic, I do wish these sections lowered the harmonies a bit to bring the leads to the forefront a bit more. Also: vocoding = auto YES (not really)

Guitar work is clean, and the arrangement is the shining point here, widely expanding what's on the original.'

Y's Viii For Vita Reviews

Expansive arrangement, infectious energy, successful collab, and... well, yes, vocoding: all Jorito staples! This is bouyant, fun track that's got energy to spare & is here to spread the positive vibes, with HW's guitar solo adding that extra element to put it over the top. Catchy, clean, & easy to like - enjoy!

― djpretzel